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Free Apron Pattern:
A Great Homemade Mother's Day Gift
 I came up with this free apron pattern after looking at some old aprons that my great-grandmother had made. She was always giving handmade gifts, so it's only appropriate that her apron pattern makes it to you!
Wearing an apron means your clothes don't get dirty and you always have a handy place to wipe your hands when you're cooking...and they're just pretty to have. It's a perfect homemade mother's day gift that also doubles as a great Christmas gift for mom too!
This free apron pattern is simple and can be made with just 1 yard of fabric. But don't feel you have to go out to the fabric store...I used an old bed sheet to make my apron. It was a fraction of the cost and I love that I had the chance to give new life to an otherwise unused piece of cloth.
So go ahead and raid your linen closet and see what whimsical fabrics you can find and let's get started!
 The Materials
You'll need:
- approximately 1 yard of fabric
- matching thread
- sewing machine
- scissors
- ruler, or measuring tape
- water-soluble marking pen (pencil works fine)
- iron
- ironing board
- pins
- needle
- thread
For Your Free Apron Pattern Cut Out:
- One 28 1/2" by 20 1/2" piece of fabric. This will be the front panel.
- TWO 3 1/4" by 25 1/2" pieces. These will be the ties to your apron.
- One 19 1/2" by 4" piece of fabric. This will be the waistband.
A Few Notes Before We Start
Read through the whole free apron pattern first so that you get to know the instructions and can work out problems before you get started.
Unless otherwise noted, always back stitch at the beginning and end of your sewing to secure the stitches in place.
Throughout the free apron pattern, you are asked to iron a 1/2" fold which is then folded over itself again and ironed once more. In other words, you're just folding the edges over twice. This is done so that the raw edges of the fabric are tucked inside your hem and won't fray when washed.
The Making
1. With the good side of your fabric facing down, take the front panel of your apron and fold the bottom edge up so that you make a 1/2" fold. Iron this fold in place. 
2. Taking the edge that you just pressed, fold it up over itself to make a new 1 1/2" hem. (Refer to the notes at the beginning of the free apron pattern as to why it is necessary to fold the seams over twice). Iron your new hem and secure with pins.
3. Using your sewing machine, stitch your hem in place. Try to sew as close as you can to the edge of your fold.
4. Iron a 1/2" fold along the sides of your front panel. Fold over the sides of your front panel again to 1/2". In the picture below, you can see that I have ironed a 1/2" fold and am folding it over itself again to make a new 1/2" fold. Secure with pins. Stitch along the sides.
5. Now, set the stitch length on your sewing machine so that it makes the longest stitches possible.
With the good side of your fabric facing up, baste about 1/2" from the top of the front panel of your apron. To baste, do not back stitch at the beginning or the end of your sewing. Simply sew straight across with your machine.
6. Once you are done basting along the top of the apron, take one hand and hold the top thread of your stitches. Use your other hand to pull the fabric along the stitches so that it begins to pucker. Be gentle - you don't want to break the thread. If the thread does break, you'll have to rip out your stitches and baste along the top of the apron again.
7. Continue puckering the top of your apron until the top measures 18 1/2" wide.
8. Put the front panel of your apron aside and pick up the two ties that you cut out earlier. Press a 1/2" seam into the two long sides and one of the short sides. (You will be leaving one of the short sides alone). Fold the seams over again to make a new 1/2" seam. Sew these seams in place. When you are done your tie should look like this: with one 'raw' end and three edges that have been neatly hemmed.
9. Take the 'raw' edge of your tie (the edge that was not hemmed) and fold it in the middle, forming a pucker, until the end of the tie measures 1 1/2" wide. Secure with a pin and stitch 1/2" from the edge of the tie to hold the pucker in place neatly. Repeat this step with the other tie.
10. Take your waistband and fold it in half lengthwise with the good sides facing together. Press the fold. Once that is done, open up your waistband so that it is laying with the good side facing up.
11. With good sides facing together, place the puckered edge of your tie so that it's nestled against the fold in your waistband and so that the edges of your waistband and tie are flush.
12. Fold the waistband over the tie and pin it in place.
13. Sew along the edge of the tie and waistband 'sandwich', but only so that the tie is sewn to the waistband. In other words, don't sew along the whole edge of the waistband. See the photo below for more clarification. 
14. Repeat steps 11-13 for the second tie and the other end of the waistband.
15. Flip the waistband and ties inside out so that the good side of the fabric is facing you. You will now see that the ties are neatly sewn to the waistband. Press with an iron.
16. With the good side facing down, press up a 1/2" fold along one raw edge of your waist band.
17. With good sides together, line up the raw edge of your waistband (the edge you did not iron under) to the top edge of your front apron panel. Pin the two pieces together. Stitch a seam 1/2" from the top to secure the raw edge of the waistband and the front apron panel together. (Make sure you do not sew the side that was folded under to your apron panel).
18. Flip the folded edge of the waistband over the top of the apron panel and secure it to the back of the apron by hand, using either a whip stitch or a hidden stitch. 
19. If you like, sew a pocket onto the front of your apron. I cut out a 7" by 6" piece of fabric, made a 1/2" hem along the top and did a zig zag stitch along the other three sides of the pocket. I ironed the zig zagged edges under to make a 1/2" fold and then pinned and sewed my pocket in place.
20. Now that you've completed your free apron pattern, add a whimsical touch to your apron. You can stencil a pretty shape onto the pocket of your apron. Just adapt the freezer paper stencil tutorial found here that I used for making father's day shirts.
I hope you are able to use this free apron pattern to make a stack of lovely handmade aprons this holiday!
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